Advice for Claiming your CashBacks on THREE.

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Thought i would share this with anyone whom has taken up a cashback deal on THREE, as some companies use it as a way of not paying your cashback claim, which is one reason why these deals are too good to be true.

This came to me from 3 on the 30th April 2007.

Cashback offers. We would like to make you aware of a potential issue that may affect some customers who are looking to redeem a cashback offer.
Some 3Seller cashback deals are paid in months 12 and 18 of contract. As part of the proof of payment the customer needs to provide you with their respective 12 or 18 month final bill.
In 3's billing system we may delay the final 12 or 18 month bill, meaning that the bill will only be issued once the customer has either terminated or renewed their contract. By doing this it may take up to an extra 30 days after the normal bill date for the customer to receive their final bill. As a consequence of this the customer may not be able to provide you with a copy of their final bill. If you have a customer in this situation, we request that you waive this requirement and pay the cashback that is due to the customer.

[buzby]

However, this assumes the firm that offered the cashback (a) cares, (b) is still in business, and (c) always planned to pay on the cashback anyway. Most seem to use it as an excuse not to.

[gkaur1985]

How do companies make money on cashback? I wish I'd gone to the same one my dad got his contract from rather than phones 4 u. My dad is paying about £10 per month after the cash back, gets his money back every month like clockwork. However the handset he received was a refurbished one which might mean lower costs for the shop.

[buzby]

Easy, for every signed contract a dealer provides, the network pays commission. It used to be paid up front, but because of so many defaults (fake contracts etc), the dealer now gets staged payments over the life of the contract. Cashback takes advantage of this, and what the dealer is effectively doing is sharing his commission with you, he's betting that you'll be attracted by his offer, but fall foul of his conditions, tying you to the contract, but not having to pay out!

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With Three now we get the majority of the commission a couple of weeks after connections has taken place. We then get an additional £25 after 5 months dependant on the customer being live and bills paid up to date. Also Direct debit needs to be set up. With all other networks we mainly get paid all commission within 3 weeks from connection date. What we earn depends on the phone chosen, Tariff connected to, Contract Term & any additional extras. Larger companies also get a volume bonus which can take a couple of months to get paid.

In contrast though, we also take a big risk. If the customer misses a payment to the network or disconnects for any reason from 4 - 6 months dependant on the Network, we get clawed back all of the commission paid, which means that we have lost the cost of the phone which can go up to £4 - £500. That is why Carphone warehouse restrict the Nokia N95 sales to 1 per household.

The network will still pursue the customer for the remainder of the contract, so in effect they havent paid us, and hopefully get the line rental back.

I know the profit we make per phone, and a lot of the cashback deals would leave me in a negative if i was to legitimately match them. The way these companies administer the cashback is in their favour, to make the odds of getting your money harder, but legitimate.

I have seen some companies terms and conditions, where if you send the claim in early, or more than 1 claim in the same envelope, they charge you £50.00 and invalidate that and all future claims. Just check you are happy with all the terms and conditions before you claim.

Also check it is a BoneFide company and not a Phoenix from the Flames. I am getting access to company reports in the next couple of days, where i will be able to see directors details for these companies and if they hold or have held directorships to other companies that have recently closed down.